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I am not sure if it is possible, but given the delivery timeline that new build cars would have, I almost wish that Amtrak would add another 20 or 30 sleepers and 10 or 15 additional coaches to the contract with CAF. The new VLII's have had a few problems and delivery has been slower than...

Interesting. I thought that if it wasn't signed the bill was not enacted and was in fact, subjected to a "pocket veto". But it has been quite a few years since I watched "I am just a bill." LOL! Kind of sad that I remember Schoolhouse Rock better than I remember the process of enacting a bill...

Paul Lucas has a really good video of the Milan to Palermo Train/Ferry trip. The part I liked is that a single occupancy sleeper compartment was just €89! The part where the train is shunted onto the ferry starts at 20:35. Nice insider tip for viewing at 21:02.

I realize that todays Western world is a great deal more egalitarian, but everyone in this photo just seems to look a bit higher class than those on any form of transportation today. Heck, even the porter is better dressed than most of the people sitting in First Class on most of my flights...

What a brute! It always amazes me that the engineer (and the fireman or brakeman on the other side of the loco?) had such horrible visibility in some of the older locomotives. But this one looks like it could tow Victoria Station to Gare du Nord! LOL! I never got to ride on a CIdWL train...

I have a friend who was the director of an MBA program at a large DC university. At least once a year I used to tell her that I believed that MBA's knew the cost of everything down to the penny but they hadn't a clue about what value anything had that wasn't completely monetized. I told her that...

In a perfect world it wouldn't need to break even. But we live in a world where Amtrak has a limited budget. I wish that budget was a bit larger but what I think about Amtrak is not completely in line with what the politicians are going to fund.

Charles I agree with you but Cal has a good point about making Amtrak's average speeds a bit faster so that it is quicker than taking a car. Perception is crucial and Amtrak is not just perceived as being slow, it is slow. If Amtrak's LD routes could go from averaging 55 mph to averaging 70 mph...

Is the Vanillia Ice Cream on the dinner menu really a thing? Maybe a brand name? Or is it just a typo? If it is a typo, it is odd that the menu actually got released that way.

I think adding another requirement for Amtrak trains is ill advised. Especially considering that most LD route trains have less than 300 passengers most of the time and many have considerably less than that. The Empire Builder that derailed in Montana had just 147 passengers on board, and the EB...

Way back in 1964, Kitty Genovese was attacked and murdered in NY. 30'some people nearby did nothing. Sad to see that the SEPTA passengers did not do better in this case. At least this woman survived.

I hadn't heard about returning service to Yakima until recently. That would make the restoration more difficult but also more useful. Interesting. My thoughts on restoring the North Coast Hiawatha were to complement the Builder by having the Hiawatha leave Chicago and Seattle at least 5 hours...

I love looking out the window as the aircraft is flying over land. Over the ocean? Not so much. I flew over what looked like a near perfect asteroid crater in North Central Montana and have spent hours trying to figure out where the crater is so I could see it from the ground. It is up near...

To take the thread jack one bit further off topic, I haven't seen any discussion about how the US stole... Err... Recruited some of the top Canadian aerospace engineers when the Avro Arrow was cancelled in 1959. Sometimes it seemed like the Apollo program was a who's who of Canada's top...

I have wondered whether a train that covered the tracks between Denver CO, Kansas City MO, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Charleston WV, Culpepper VA to DC Union Station would work in a more train friendly future. It seems that, as danasgoodstuff points out, having all the EW trains route through...

Caravanman, I apologize for the irritation I have caused. I did use a rather broad brush, and that was not appropriate. It won't make much of a difference, but all 4 of my Grandparents' families were of British heritage, three from England and one from Wales. So if I was casting uncalled for...

I wondered about that myself. I think the Yankees hat was desirable for the front desk clerk for its cachet. Orioles hat? Given their record of late, your results may differ. LOL! I don't think Estonians give a flip about baseball, they are more into soccer, hockey, judo and basketball (now)...

The new case numbers in the US have finally started going down but they have a long way to go. Worldometers numbers the 7 day rolling average of new cases peaked for the third or fourth time (depending on how you count peaks) on 9/14 at 182,044. We have been steadily, slowly, dropping since then...

Maybe so, caravan man, but deep down, I really am a Yank. But who knows, perhaps a New York Yankees hat may be effective enough to magically transform any truly British person into a "Well Traveled American", but I am not sure that there are many British citizens that would wish to be "honored"...

The British guy may have had two strikes against him before he even boarded the train. British young men are viewed as being possible problems by just about everyone who is working with the public in Europe. It may not sound fair, but it is what it is. I was in Estonia several years ago and...